So-So So Far
I'm in, and working. Hopefully toward a result.
I decided to shake things up and try Blockbench, without practicing. It's been mostly a decent experience, but between some UV issues and some physics .. adventures with my car controller, I am definitely behind where I'd like to be.
But I did have fun diving into some of this low-poly/pixel-art style of model-making.

There's potential, but the core gamefeel of movement is awful right now, and I should already be working on the surrounding game, not still the character controller.
Here's hoping I get some acceleration!